Good News and Not-So-Good News

The good news is that the movers called: our stuff is arriving tomorrow, WAY ahead of schedule!

The not-so-good news is WHO actually called.

See, choosing a mover was HARD. I got 4 quotes: 1 was in the $2000 range, 1 was in the $3500 range and 2 were in the $5000 range. They all estimated the weight at about the same and they were all "garunteed not to exceed" quotes, meaning even if the weight was more than the estimate, the final amount would not go up. Being a bargin hunter, it was hard NOT to go with the $2000 quote from Oz Moving. I reasoned that I would be nervous about our belongings no matter what we paid, so why not go with the cheapest? I did some research on movingscam.com and found that Oz did both local and long distance moves. Their reputation for local was better than the long distance, but they had been doing local longer and the questionable reviews on long distance moves seemed outdated. For example, one review said that Oz would be sub-contracting her move to Fragile Van Lines and everyone on the site agreed that Fragile should be avoided at all costs. But when I spoke to the person at Oz he told me that they would be taking my belongings from NYC to LA and that they were starting up a new weekly service to LA which is why we were getting such a good rate.

Fast forward to today when Kelly from Fragile Van Lines called to confirm my delivery. Yup - we had been sub-contracted. I'm not freaking out yet, but I am not thrilled. Hopefully everything will arrive as planned looking no worse for the wear.

In the meantime, SMS and I are going to the Dodgers game tonight where Barry Bonds could tie and possibly break Hank Aaron's home run record. That should take our mind off of it!

How walkable are you?

When I was very little I wanted to be a ballerina.


They say most girls go through that phase and I think I went through it because, in some way, I WAS a ballerina. When I was in 1st grade I took ballet class in a dance studio at Chatham College from a lady named Miss Audrey. It was as much my occupation as anything else in my life. There was a uniform and a schedule and I liked it, so that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up. My ballet career was sidelined just a few months after it began by a surgery that I had over Spring Break that year. But that was ok, I quickly found other career aspirations, they were, in this order:

• Astronaut (Career aspiration abandoned after the Challenger explosion which I watched live on TV at my dad's office - it was a snow day.)
  
• Congressperson (Career aspiration abandoned after Bud Dwyer killed himself on live TV which I watched live at my dad's office - yup, another snow day. And yes, I know Bud Dwyer was not a Congressperson, but life in politics seemed less interesting after that moment.)
  
• Actress (Career aspiration abandoned after it became apparent that actresses were dependent on directors/casting agents to give them jobs.)
  
• Sport Psychologist (Career aspiration abandoned after two years managing the GMU Men's Soccer team. To say any more would be mean.)
  
• Poet

Yup, I was going to be the first person since Robert Frost to make a living solely by writing poetry. I thought this into my late-teens / early-twenties when I met a wonderful man who became my teacher, mentor and friend. He gave me a job at the presenting house on campus and my career in arts administration was born.

Arts administration gave me the opportunity to combine something I loved (the performing arts) and something I was good at (telling people what to do). I loved the field but when I took a job in the for-profit world of artist management, I was less than happy. It was at that time that I considered switching career into city planning. In the end I didn’t go back to school, instead I took my dream job as the Assistant Director of Education and Intern Coordinator at Manhattan Theatre Club, but while I was researching a career change I learned a great deal (and met my friend Erik, but that is a whole other story!).

The concept that stood out the most for me was the idea of mixed-use areas – places where business, commerce and residential areas co-exist. As I get to know our new neighborhood I am overwhelmed by the fact that we are living in a true mixed-use area that is terribly walk-able. It is very exciting to me. Within 1/2 a mile we have condo/apartment buildings, adorable single family homes, restaurants, movie theatres, grocery stores, shops, bars, etc. etc. The residents are diverse and friendly! Look at how walkable my neighborhood is:


Check out how walkable your neighborhood is here.

Just Another Day. . .Cont.

So much for a day with nothing related to the move!

No hike today, no one was feeling up to it. Instead my friend KMAY from high school came over and we walked around the 'hood and got some ice cream (her) and frozen yogurt(me). What a pleasure to be able to see her whenever I want! Then the whole family helped me build our dining room table. Pictures below.





























Right before the table was complete dinner #2 from SMS' mom arrived so we ate it on the coffee table. Greek tonight, very yummy! Picture below.









Today was a rough day for SMS. He has his ups and downs. His feelings of loneliness and isolation are made more intense by the fact that I don't share them, but we are trying to be there for each other. There's been some bickering and some hurt feelings, but all in all I think everything is going as well as can be expected when you pick up and more across the country!

Tomorrow starts a new week. Our first full week in LA. I have to start focusing on a getting a job!

Just Another Day

Yesterday we built these shelves:

It was a long day, but not nearly as bad as I had expected, thanks in large part to my friend Rebecca who was in town to visit her family in Claremont. She put together shelves just like this a few months ago, so she acted as our foreman and helped avoid all the pitfalls she and her girlfriend made. She said we had it extra easy because our floors are level, not too common in Brooklyn where they put their shelves together! We still have another set to put together (for the other side of the TV stand) and our dining room table and chairs, but it's starting to come together!

Yesterday I also found a 44-minute walk route that I like, though still no hills.

And last night I found my new favorite meal - a "side by side" at Baja Fresh. I have a feeling I will be eating A LOT of them. It's basically a salad that isn't mixed up and it has bite-sized chicken, salsa fresca, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, sliced avocados and a yummy dressing. I like it because you get to pick and choose what to have in each bite. Yum. I supplemented mine with chips, of course.

And today is Sunday: it is the first day since I have been here that I have done something not related to the move. This morning I visited my friend's little brother in the hospital and spent time with her sister who is there with him. My friend is back east and I'm trying to do what I can for her family. It's a sad story that I won't go into, only to say that he is not exactly conscious but not exactly in a coma and he is looking much better than I expected. I know hospitals freak a lot of people out, but not me. Hospitals are places of intensity and reality that I really appreciate. There's very little bullshit in a hospital, and there's practically none in a Critical Care Unit. My friend's brother has been there since early Tuesday morning (7/10) and it looks like it's going to be a while longer...I'm glad to be out here and will try to be helpful (did I mention, I'm unemployed?).

This afternoon SMS and I are meeting our friend KMAY for a hike in an LA park. I am very much looking forward to that.

Nesting

Yesterday (Friday) was all about nesting. We knew we had to wait for the Time Warner guy (8am - 10am), the IKEA delivery (8am - Noon) and UPS, so we planned to do some chilling in the apartment that morning. Much to our delight both Time Warner and IKEA arrived a little after 8am and by 9:30am we had cable & internet and I was building our furniture.











SMS wonders what we have done while I get to work on the chaise (or fainting couch, as I like to call it!).




We spent the rest of the day waiting for UPS and building IKEA furniture. It was much easier than I thought, but then again, we only did the easy pieces! UPS came around 5pm and then we went out to Bed, Bath and Beyond in Encino which was TOTALLY empty. Apparently there are cooler things to do on a Friday night in The Valley than shop at BB&B, but I had a blast.

In other news, SMS started his own blog yesterday, so make sure to check it out. He and I have very different feelings about this move. While we're totally in it together, we are experiencing it very differently!

Today we have a lot going on. A friend from my old job (did I mention I'm unemployed?) is in town to visit her family and she's coming over to foreman our IKEA construction. She just bought and put together the same shelves we bought, so she knows what she's doing. Then another friend from my old job is in town for work and she's staying with her sister who lives up the street from us! She's going to stop by on her way home from the beach. Then we have plans to see one of our new LA friends.

I hope today's IKEA stuff is as easy as yesterday's but I sort of have a feeling that won't be the case...

Only in LA....

You hear people talking all the time about how something could "only happen in New York," but as someone who is adjusting to life in LA, I definitely think there are certain things that "only happen in LA." This will be an ongoing series of posts that will document some of these things. While I can't say for sure that these things only happen in LA (or whether it's that they only happen on the West Coast, or just that they don't happen in New York!) these posts will be about things that are new to me....

Item 1: Bench Advertising



I know bench advertising is not new (and that street corner sign spinning is now all the rage) but I don't think I've ever lived anywhere where benches with people's faces have been used to advertise things. I know it from movies and TV shows but to see people's faces on benches as you drive by is still weird to me.

In Defense of My Treadmill

So this morning, at 6:45am, I took a walk around my neighborhood. It is lovely. We're so close to all the amenities on Ventura Boulevard (can't. get. tom. petty. out. of. my. head.) but right behind us there are gorgeous little houses on cute residential streets (not all of which have sidewalks. hmpf.). SMS thinks it is crazy that we moved all the way to LA, with it's perfect weather, blah, blah, blah and I want to buy something that will allow me to stay indoors to walk. At the beginning of my walk today I thought, "Maybe he's right; maybe I don't need a treadmill. If I stay on East Coast time forever then I can always walk in the morning, even if I do actually get a job." But 30-minutes in I thought differently. Here is why I think I need a treadmill:

1. I have the physical stamina to walk longer than half an hour, but unless I'm heading somewhere specific, I get really, really bored, even with Science Friday on my I-Pod.
   
2. There are no hills in Sherman Oaks. It's flat, flat, flat, and I need some hills!
3. I watch A LOT of TV. If I walked on a treadmill for 1/2 the time I watched TV, I could lose 20lbs in no time! It's my version of Larry David peeing sitting down:

Larry David: I pee sitting down.
Jeff Greene: You pee sitting down?
Larry David: Yeah! Have you ever tried it?
Jeff Greene: No!
Larry David: It's more comfortable. When you get up during the night you don't have to turn on the light and wake up, and you get to read.
Jeff Greene: What are you reading?
Larry David: I'm reading a lot of stuff.
Jeff Greene: What stuff?
Larry David: If I peed twenty times during a day I can get through a whole New York Times for god's sake!
Jeff Greene: Twenty times?
Larry David: Yeah! Hey buddy, when you're peeing all over your shoe, I'm learnin' somethin'!
Jeff Greene: What makes you think I'm peeing all over my shoe while you're learnin' somethin'?


So there you have it, I'm getting a treadmill! Also, it will add to my Costco money back program, so what more reason do you need?

First Dinner in the New Place

Tonight Sam's mom arranged for sushi to be delivered to us. It was great! We ate it on the box that our microwave came in. The cats relaxed next to us on the carpet. Good stuff. I think we're going to be very happy here!

The Swing Theory

I have problems with money. Problems with money go way back on my dad’s side of the family and each generation manifests them differently, but let’s just say, I come by these problems naturally.

One of my biggest problems with money stems from something called “The Swing Theory.” I grew up with a tacit understanding of The Swing Theory because my father, Cohen Sr. was always referring to it, but it wasn’t until my parents visited me during my freshman year of college that he clearly explained how it actually worked.

Cohen Sr. with me and Mr. Happy in Australia, late '80s.

We were at Tyson’s Corner Shopping Mall and I was looking at a pair of sunglasses. I don’t actually remember how much they cost, but for argument’s sake, $35 sounds reasonable. I thought I liked them well enough until I saw another pair that I LOVED and they were, let’s say, $60. I really wanted the $60 glasses. I think they were Guess! or Fossil (did Fossil ever make sunglasses?), but whatever they were, they made the $35 glasses look silly.

$60 was a lot for me as a freshman. What was a girl to do?

So Cohen Sr. explained his Swing Theory to me. His reasoning was, “If you were willing to spend $35 on glasses that you didn’t really like, and it will only cost you $25 more to buy the ones you want, then really, you’re only spending $25 because the first $35 is a given cost and therefore negligible.” In that example the swing was 25 bucks and totally worth it.

If it sounds a little fishy to you, you are not alone. I was explaining the theory to a friend last month and she looked at me as if I had grown another head. “It sounds like your father’s Swing Theory forgets a little thing called The Bottom Line.” She’s right about this of course, most of the time.

What, you may ask, does this have to do with a move to the West Coast?

Today SMS and I went to get a membership at Costco. We had the opportunity to pay $50 for a regular membership or $100 for a special membership that gives us back 2% of everything we spend at the end of each year. “It a really good deal,” the saleslady said (she was really nice, a bleach blond in her late 30s with a “sun tattoo” of the playboy bunny logo just above her cleavage), “Don’t even think of it as spending $100 – because you’d be paying the $50 anyway, so really you’re just paying $50 more, and if you think you are going to spend more that $2500 in a year, you’ve already made it back!!” It was The Swing Theory in action. And in this case – it actually works. We were going to pay $50 for the membership anyway (we had already picked out a flat screen HDTV, a vacuum cleaner (anniversary/housewarming gift from SMS’ grandma) and a microwave), so the first $50 was a given: it was, in a sense the cost of doing business. The second $50 was a no-brainer, and gave us the opportunity to earn back both the second $50 and the first $50, if we spend enough!

SMS will tell you that the saleslady used The Swing Theory because she was just that, a SALESlady, but I would say Cohen Sr. is laughing somewhere right about now. It doesn’t matter whether or not The Swing Theory is true, it just matters that someone outside of my family is using it as a logical explanation for why you might part with more money than you thought you should.

We bought the special membership. By the time I buy my treadmill and we stock our place with paper goods, we’ll be in the black, I’m sure.

We're here!

The (pirated) internet connection is weak, but I just wanted to throw a note up to say we arrived safe and sound. There were many small miracles yesterday, not the least of which was the empty seat between SMS and me on the flight. This gave us much needed room to take care of Henry who was slightly freaked out by the whole thing. The stewardess let us take him out of his carrier and he slept on my lap for a few hours wrapped in a blanket. That certainly calmed him down. Mae could not have cared less about the whole thing. Given that her favorite place in the old apartment was under the couch, she felt right at home on the floor of the plane.

Shout outs to Lauren & Eric and Robin for lending us the Sherpas; Ari for driving us around Manhattan on Monday, lifting lots of heavy stuff, and taking us to the airport on Wednesday; Aaron and Lauren for the much needed duffel bag, Yvonne & Eric and Erica & Mike & Maisie for the homeopathic cat remedies; My New Friend Stephanie who helped me on my first (of many) Housing Works runs to donate some of the mass of junk we have accumulated over the past 10 years; Karen for our first piece of personal mail in the new place; and everyone else in New York who has made the last 10 years an amazing 1/3 of my life (so far!) and anyone who helped with the move that I can’t remember right now, because sleep is not something I have been friends with lately.

Also, to KMAY and Matt who have done everything in their power on this end to make this move as easy as possible.

And most of all to SMS who lifted heavy, heavy things for many, many weeks leading up to this move and who was a trooper yesterday, allowing me all my silly idiosyncrasies and smiling through most of it.

Not my favorite day...(Part 3)

Click for Part 1.
Click for Part 2.

Day Three is: So Far So Good!

Still really worried about getting through security with the cats (and not losing them in the process!) and anxious about everything that goes along with flying in general (and flying during the summer months in particular), however, thanks to our good friends Aaron and Lauren, we have an extra duffel bag that holds the air mattress, sheets, pillows, etc. so it looks like everything is going to fit! (I'm not sure that sentence is grammatically correct, but if it is, it's a long one!)

Didn't sleep well or long last night, but this morning started with a visit from our friend Jess to pick up our energy star A/C and then SMS and I divided the chores - he was on clean-up and throw-away duty in the apartment and I was on the errand run which began at Time Warner on 219th street where I returned the cable box. I think it's sort of cool that I went to a part of Manhattan that I had never been to before on the day we are moving.

Apparently when I am running on less than six hours of sleep over a two day time-frame run on sentence are the norm.....I think it's fitting, because my whole head feels like a run-on sentence.

Take care to all and see you in LA!

Cousins Without Borders

I'm not sure if it is the footlong hotdog and chicken tender I had at Shea last night (yes, it is possible to eat just one chicken tender) or the fact that I'm moving to LA in 11 hours, but I can't sleep.






























As usual, we had a blast with Cousin Andrew last night. Watching the Mets spank the Pirates (sorry Andrew!) felt like a fitting end to our time in NYC, however saying goodbye to Andrew on the 7 train was less than ideal. (Bursting into tears after your team wins doesn't go over so well in New York!)

I have many cousins in New York, most of whom I barely knew before I moved here. While New York has provided me the opportunity to meet new and fabulous people, getting to know my cousins Andrew, Armand, Marla and Ilisa (my "not really cousin") has been an amazing experience. My definition of cousin may be loose, but knowing these guys/girls had my back made the big, bad city a little smaller. Getting drunk on a Sunday afternoon at Blondies, rooting for the Steelers and watching Andrew throw down order after order of chicken wings, will remain a highlight for years to come. And it's thanks to Ilisa that I eat sushi!






























Love you guys! Come visit!

Not my favorite day...(Part 2)

Part 1.

It's 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday morning (I've been up for an hour and slept a whopping 3 and half hours last night!). Monday was a success in that it was not nearly as terrible as I had expected it to be and much of it was quite enjoyable.

Today, in a sense, is already a success in that I showered and put on clean clothes. I have moved nine times ("nine times!") in the past ten years. One thing I have learned about myself is that I tend to stop showering a day or two (or six!) out. There's something about creating new laundry when I'm trying to pack up everything I own that I can't get my head around. So I pick an outfit (usually jeans and a T-shirt) and I stick with it. But this morning, I showered, so the day is already a success!

The movers are due at 9am and I'm going to box up the last of the toiletries and tin foil and wait for them to arrive.

One more thing about yesterday: right now I think the best thing about being married is being able to take a break from packing at 2 a.m. to take a walk around the block with your husband and splitting a sub ("Girl's Night Out" from Subs Conscious on Amsterdam) before collapsing into bed. I'm sure there are other great things about being married, but right now, that one seems like the best.

**UPDATE**
11:15am: The movers are here; they arrvied at 9:30a.m. They are actually close to done. I made the mistake of watching them pack up my grandmother's Art Deco bedroom set. After that I hid in the bathroom for a bit and cried. Oh Well. I need to start studying Buddhism to learn some lessons about impermanence and living with less. I just have too much stuff that means too much to me. Really, what more do I need than my husband and my cats...and my iBook...and my iPod...and my digital camera? Yeah, I have a lot to learn.

**UPDATE**
3pm: The movers are long gone. We shipped three boxes of "essentials" ahead of us so that we won't have to wait the estimated two weeks that it will take for the rest of the stuff to arrive. The following things still need to be done by 1pm tomorrow:
1. Clean the apartment.
2. Have a walk through with the head of housing.
3. Return the cable box, remote and modem.
4. Turn the many, many coins that we have collected over the years into "real money," because coins are really heavy!
5. Go to the Mets/Pirates game tonight!
We're almost there!

Not my favorite day...

The past 3 and a half months leading up to the move have been mildly uncomfortable...3 and a half months is a little TOO long to know you are moving across the country. But now, it's just 3 days away and I'm freaking out. I feel like the core of my body is vibrating (I think that's called anxiety). I have a ton of adrenalin, but I'm also sort of paralyzed, even though there's a lot to do. Ugh.

The next three days will not be my favorite days in the world. Here's what's going on:

Today/Monday
1. It's raining, hard. And it's expected to continue like this all day.
2. Laundry.
3. We have tons of errands to run with our friend Ari who has graciously offered to drive us around and help SMS lift things. Here are the errands:
-- Take a bunch of stuff (clothes, shoes, dishes, a sleeping bag, etc.) to Housing Works.
-- Take a very heavy TV, which nearly killed me once, to my cousin Armand's place (a 4th floor walk-up). He won't be there. He's in LA!
-- Stop by the vet to get Henry and Mae more of their very expensive food and their health certificate for the flight.
-- Return the cable box.
-- Change a bunch of coins into real money.
-- Pay the movers.
-- Ship a box of stuff we'll need immediately to ourselves.
4. Be home by 3pm so that the rabbinical student moving into our place can come by to measure.
5. Hang out with my best friend from summer camp and her husband and her daughter: grab an early dinner. I AM looking forward to this, though I hope the rain stops by then!
6. Have a college friend come by while I pull my hair out packing the last of the stuff for the movers.

Tomorrow/Tuesday
The movers are due here at 9am -- it may still be raining. I am super nervous about them because they are super cheap. I'm hoping for the best.

Then we get to clean our apartment, which, as far as I'm concerned was never clean to begin with!

Then we get to go to the Mets game with cousin Andrew - hopefully it WON'T still be raining. I am also looking forward to this, though it will be sad. And they are playing the Pirates for extra, I don't know, irony.

Wednesday
WE FLY TO LAX! With the cats! Both of them! With nothing but a homeopathic "calming formula" (for the cats!) to get us through. We get to the new place sometime Wednesday night and collapse on the air mattress. Lovely.

**UPDATE**
2:45pm - Today (Monday) is turning out to be so much better than I thought! What a relief! It is still raining though. I really hope it stops before the movers come at 9am tomorrow!

**UPDATE**
11:45pm - The day has indeed gone much better than expected. We are pretty much packed and we're just trying to figure out what is going in the truck (most of the stuff), what is going on the plane and what we are shipping over-night to beat us out there (a few dishes and silverware, a pot, a pan a spatula, a lamp, some tools). The last time we moved I went to sleep at 9pm because I was having some kind of meltdown. When I went to sleep the apartment looked pretty much like people still lived there. As I write this, there is no way anyone could mistake this place for somewhere that people actually lived. I take that as a good sign!

GoodBye Self Portraits

July has been about (1) packing, (2) saying goodbye, (3) and eating our way through New York. I've taken pictures of a lot of these activities. Here are some of them:














Check out many more goodbye self portraits.

What we've already accomplished

The whole moving process started back at the end of March, which (strangely) seems like a VERY long time ago. My husband (SMS) accepted a teaching position for the fall in The Valley and I gave notice at the end of March. Although I kept working until July 11th, it was hard to stay focused on my job and New York, because I was busy looking for work and a place to live in LA. So far, I haven't found work, but we did purchase a car, rent a place to live and we are currently living among many, many boxes. The truck comes on Tuesday, we fly on Wednesday and then we get to it!

Both of us are nervous, excited and sad, but I am leaning towards excited and SMS is leaning towards sad. New York is his home so with this move he is 'leaving home.' However, New York was never REALLY my home (despite my desire to one day be Brooklyn Borough President), it was more like a fun adventure. The adventure stopped being fun a few years ago and I am really excited to move on. I think of New York as I think of my parents: New York, in a sense, raised me. I learned a lot, I laughed, I cried, but you can't live with your parents forever -- It's time for me to move on!

Photos of our late June trip to LA to find a place to live and to buy a car can be found here.

Procrastination

So rather than packing, I've decided to start the blog process. Hopefully people who want to keep up to date with my move, job search and apartment decorating will check here often. That way I won't be sending out mass emails that (a) get caught in people's spam filter and (b) annoy people who don't want to read about my life.

I won't be sticking true to the first blog principle (post every day), but hopefully this will help me keep an accurate record of the adjustment to West Coast life.

I hope you will help me feel like I'm not so far away from my hometown (pittsburgh), my adopted hometown (nyc) and my family (all over the place!) by using the comment area to say hi!